The Sound Radiated by Tip Clearances Submerged in a Boundary Layer

TL;DR

This study examines how tip clearance flow around an airfoil generates far-field sound, identifying dominant noise sources and how they vary with flow conditions and clearance height.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the noise mechanisms of tip clearances, highlighting the roles of leakage flow and tip separation vortex in sound generation.

Findings

Mid-to-high frequency noise is dominated by leakage flow in mid-chord and leading-edge regions.

Low-frequency noise originates from the tip separation vortex near the trailing edge.

Noise magnitude decreases with increased clearance height and Mach number.

Abstract

The present study investigates the behaviour of the far-field sound radiated by low Mach number tip clearance flow induced by placing a stationary cambered airfoil adjacent to a stationary wall. The tip clearance heights ranged from 14% to 30% of the incoming, undisturbed boundary layer thickness and the clearance heights based Reynolds numbers were between 2,600 and 16,000. The far-field sound measured using a microphone array was beamformed to reveal the dominant noise sources and how they behave when the flow Mach number, angle of attack and the clearance height were varied. The near-field behaviour was also examined through PIV measurements and surface pressure fluctuation measurements on the tip. The results show that the mid-to-high frequency noise generated by tip clearances is dominated by the leakage flow in the mid-chord and leading-edge regions, while a distinct low-frequency noise source with a different scaling behaviour exists close to the trailing-edge of the tip clearance. The origin of this low-frequency noise source is believed to be the tip separation vortex that resides close to the trailing-edge and induces significant turbulence levels in the region. The strength of this noise source decreases with clearance height which is consistent with a reduction in turbulence levels associated with the separation vortex. The magnitude of the mid-frequency clearance noise which scales with the sixth power of the Mach number, decreases with tip clearance height due to a reduction in the fluctuating pressure on the airfoil tip surface. The time-scale of this sound was independent of the flow velocity, implying that the source is non-compact. Smaller tip clearances were also found to generate louder high-frequency noise due to intense turbulence and pressure fluctuation levels concentrated near the leading-edge of the clearance.